Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Oklahoma marked the end of non-conference play for the Utes as they will now turn their focus to a grueling Pac-12 schedule.
Utah began the season with a goal of winning the conference and players haven’t backed down from that.
“We’re pretty confident,”
said goalkeeper Lindsey Luke. “I mean, we’re good. We’re really good, and we are going to cause some teams some trouble.”
The Utes will enter Friday’s Pac-12 opener against No. 12 Cal with a 4-1-4 record. Before Sunday’s inconsistent effort, the team appeared to be improving from game to game. Utah head coach Rich Manning actually pointed to the start of the conference season as a possible reason his team struggled on Sunday.
“They have been waiting for [conference play],” Manning said. “I think a lot of what you saw [Sunday] was them being really excited for conference and now that it’s here, I’m sure we will be ready to play.”
Utah’s road to the Pac-12 title will go through many of the country’s top programs, most notably Stanford. Winners of four straight conference titles, the Cardinal is boasting a 42-game winning streak in Pac-12 action that dates back to Nov. 2008. Stanford hasn’t shown any sign that its dominance over the rest of the conference will end in 2013, either. The Cardinal comes into conference play with an undefeated record of 7-0-1 and a No. 1 national ranking.
The last team to beat Stanford was UCLA, and the Bruins may have the best shot to knock the Cardinal off this year. UCLA was chosen by Pac-12 coaches as the preseason favorite and has done nothing so far to make people think any differently. The No. 3 Bruins have out-scored their opponents 19-2 in going 8-1-0 leading up to conference play. Their only loss was a 1-0 road defeat to defending national champion North Carolina.
Also expected to be a challenger to Stanford’s throne is Utah’s first conference opponent, Cal. The Golden Bears are 6-0-2 through the preseason and are knocking on the door of a Top 10 national ranking.
As conference play begins, the league looks as though it will be good from top to bottom. In addition to the teams that are among the nation’s elite, four others have one loss or fewer thus far. That doesn’t include a Washington team that made the NCAA Tournament last season or a young, improving USC squad that knocked off a then-No. 2 UCLA team at the tail end of last year.
Despite the difficulties that lie ahead, the Utes are looking forward to the challenges that conference play will bring.
“We are super confident,” midfielder Avery Ford said. “We are working every day on finishing and I think we’re getting better every day.”
In order to accomplish their goal of winning the Pac-12, the Utes will have to start finding the back of the net more. In eight of its 11 conference games last season, Utah was held to one goal or fewer.
The good news for the Utes is their offense looks to be improved from last season. In 2012, Utah averaged 1.28 goals per game during their nonconference schedule compared to 2.00 goals per game this season. In their last five games, the Utes are averaging 3.2 goals per game.
“We definitely want to win the Pac-12,” Luke said. “We work just as hard as any other team out there. It’s going to come down to game days and our energy and what we bring to the table.”